Scraggy Line/BW
Scraggy can be found on Routes 1, 4 and 18, as well as the Desert Resort and the P2 Laboratory, in both games. It is most common on Route 18. Probably better known as the one Pokémon that can single-handedly defeat the whole of the Elite Four, minus Marshal. Scrafty's prowess is almost legendary, even more so in Unova than in the later games, thanks to the absence of Fairy-types; it has amazing bulk, a good Attack, and ways of boosting it within a couple turns such that almost every opponent will run away in fear upon seeing it. In addition to that, it carries two of the absolute best STABs in the game, Fighting and Dark; they make up for near-perfect coverage when put together, and Scraggy's level up learnset alone offers plenty of options in both departments, which can easily be enhanced with some TM work. The only real difficulty is taking Scraggy to Scrafty level, and even then, its good defenses and the Eviolite should do their job very well at making it survive for however long is needed. Important Matchups * Gym #3 - Burgh (Castelia City, Bug-type): The matchup is not as terrible as it sounds, but Scraggy's moves can only take it so far here. Whirlipede might be outstalled with Headbutt, but Poison Tail will also hurt, and Scraggy is at a disadvantage, especially if it gets poisoned; it is more feasible with the Eviolite attached, though, in which case patience and Antidotes will be enough. Dwebble is better, as it can be tackled with Brick Break for neutral damage. Stay away from Leavanny's Razor Leaf if possible, as while an Eviolite Scraggy can take up to three hits from it, it will also not deal much damage with Headbutt alone, wasting away a good few healing items. * Bianca (Castelia City): Brick Break could go as far as OHKOing notwithstanding Herdier's Intimidate; even if it does not, Herdier can only do so much to a Scraggy carrying the Eviolite: Take Down is a 3HKO at best. Munna is easy with Faint Attack, and the elemental monkeys also are, either with that or Brick Break. As far as the starter goes, Servine is alright, but Dewott's Focus Energy + Razor Shell is a not so pretty combo for a slow Pokémon; do not fight Pignite, because it has Arm Thrust. * Cheren (Route 4): Brick Break 2HKOs Pidove before it even gets the chance to deal consistent damage with Air Cutter. Brick Break also makes Liepard easy, and all three elemental monkeys will fall to two hits before they get to do much, just like Pidove. Scraggy should be able to take on Servine and Dewott just fine as well, once again assuming that the Eviolite is attached, but Pignite's Arm Thrust is too much for Scraggy to take in regardless of its held item. * N (Nimbasa City): Sandile will be good as gone within a single Brick Break, but Darumaka will take two; not that this is an issue, as Eviolite Scraggy can take several Fire Punches from it. Scraggy is a mirror match and has Swagger, so be sure to not do anything hasty and heal confusion as needed; being at a higher level is advised. Sigilyph's Air Cutter and Scraggy's Faint Attack are both 2HKOs, with Sigilyph being closer to the 3HKO range; a very sturdy Scraggy can take it on, but not without healing and not without risks, especially considering Air Cutter's enhanced critical hit rate. * Gym #4 - Elesa (Nimbasa City, Electric-type): Both of the Emolga are off limits due to STAB Aerial Ace. Zebstrika, instead, is doable Scraggy's health is kept high and it also holds the Eviolite. Scraggy can take two hits and 3HKO Zebstrika with Brick Break, but is not the ideal matchup unless both of the Emolga are already gone, as Zebstrika could still Volt Switch back to them in that case, making them take next to no damage from Scraggy's Fighting STAB. * Cheren (Route 5): Liepard and the elemental monkeys have not changed much at all, so they can still be taken down by Scraggy with no trouble. Pidove is now a Tranquill, still gets 3HKOed by Brick Break, and its Air Cutter is not that strong, but Scraggy needs to be wary of critical hits. The starters work the same way as before: Servine is okay, Dewott is alright but more difficult than Servine, and Pignite has Arm Thrust and should therefore be avoided. * Gym #5 - Clay (Driftveil City, Ground-type): Krokorok's Intimidate will nerf Scraggy's offensive power, transforming the otherwise OHKO into a 2HKO. It can also use Swagger against Scraggy, making the matchup very difficult and reliant on luck; even healing confusion will accomplish nothing, and may actually be detrimental because Krokorok may as well keep using Swagger, increasing Scraggy's Attack (and thus confusion recoil) even further. If under the effects of Intimidate, it is advised to swap out for Palpitoad, which will otherwise stall with Aqua Ring and deal considerable damage in the meantime; it is more doable if Scraggy's Attack is back at its regular level, naturally, as Brick Break accomplishes a swift 2-3HKO in that case. An Eviolite Scraggy that is still healthy or at high HP has a decent matchup against Excadrill, surprisingly; Brick Break 2HKOs it and it can take two Bulldoze, or one at +1 Attack from Hone Claws. * Bianca (Driftveil City): Take Herdier down fast with Brick Break. Musharna and the elemental monkey are easy to defeat as well, though only Servine of the starters is easy for Scraggy, as Pignite has Arm Thrust once again and Dewott now carries Revenge. Regardless, even a critical Revenge is unlikely to OHKO an Eviolite Scraggy, as it would need a high damage roll to accomplish an OHKO; Scraggy cannot 2HKO either, but it can make a sizable dent in Dewott's defenses before switching out. * N (Chargestone Cave): Boldore should be no trouble, but its Mud-Slap might prove annoying as Scraggy fights N's other Pokémon. Ferroseed and Klink should both go down easily with one or two Brick Breaks each (Ferroseed cannot be OHKOed); Joltik might get off a Volt Switch or another move, but is otherwise not very threatening and can take no more than two Faint Attacks. * Gym #6 - Skyla (Mistralton City, Flying-type): Do not bother. Both Swoobat and Swanna are on their way to destroy Scraggy, and even Unfezant's Air Slash, while coming from its lesser offensive stat, will deal a lot more damage than Scraggy is able to take, not to mention that it will not be able to strike back strongly enough to compensate. Keep it out of this battle. * Cheren (Route 7): If Scraggy is still a Scraggy, there will not be much for it to do other than defeating Liepard, and possibly attempting the now-evolved elemental monkey, but without any guarantee of success; if it is a Scrafty already, instead, the fight is much better: Unfezant's Air Slash is still unpleasant at best, and should be avoided if possible, but everything else is easy for Scrafty to take on, even Pignite, which no longer has Fighting STAB. * Gym #7 - Brycen (Icirrus City, Ice-type): The finally-Scrafty is a fantastic weapon against all of Brycen's Pokémon. Cryogonal lacks the ability to do anything, as Brick Break will shatter any screens it attempts to put up. Beartic has Swagger, which is something Scrafty should watch out for if it is slower than the bear, but it should be nothing too worrisome unless Scrafty is unable to heal the status, and Brick Break 2HKOs it cleanly. * Bianca (Route 8): Crunch and Scrafty's Fighting STAB of choice will serve well against every single Pokémon she has, no matter which starter was picked. Emboar has no Fighting moves, so even that one is safe to take on. The only thing to watch out for is possible Hi Jump Kick recoil, and that will not be a problem with an accuracy-boosting item or if Scrafty simply relies on Brick Break. * Gym #8 - Iris/Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): A bit of a dicey fight, but Scrafty is one of the few Pokémon that can face Haxorus without getting destroyed, if it plays well. Betting on Fraxure setting up the first turn may be the best option; if it does not use Dragon Tail, Scrafty will get off one Attack boost through Work Up and should then be able to defeat the rest without many problems. Both Druddigon and Haxorus can be OHKOed by Hi Jump Kick after one Work Up and another boost from Moxie. Do note, however, that Druddigon has the very dangerous Revenge: if it scores a critical hit, even Scrafty will die, despite its great bulk, though this only applies to Revenge after damage, and is thus only an issue for Scrafty that are at less than +2 Attack (or unwilling to risk using Hi Jump Kick) and will therefore at best 2HKO Druddigon. If Scrafty must not take risks, it cannot fight against Druddigon, but that also means Scrafty will not be able to let it face Haxorus, as a Scrafty without boosts loses both in Speed and in raw attacking power to Iris' or Drayden's ace, and it could even give it free setup turns to wreck the entire team later on. * Cheren (Route 10): As usual, keep away from Unfezant because of Air Slash, and now even Serperior as it has Coil, and could be threatening for the rest of the entire team if Scrafty does not manage to take it down fast enough (which it will not). The others are all safe to fight instead, and can be downed in two Hi Jump Kicks or three Crunches; Brick Break is enough to OHKO Liepard. Serperior is possible upwards of +2 in Attack with Hi Jump Kick, and from +3 onwards with Crunch, which is a number of boosts that a Moxie Scrafty will not find hard to reach, unlike a Shed Skin one. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Scrafty can get two Work Ups off easily against Cofagrigus, which only has not very effective moves to hit it with. At +2 (or +3 in some cases), a Crunch OHKO against every single Pokémon Shauntal has is guaranteed. Bear in mind, however, that two circumstances could stop Scrafty from soloing Shauntal: one is the activation of Jellicent's Cursed Body, which may block off Crunch; and the other is a potential critical Fire Blast from Chandelure, which is faster than Scrafty, a guaranteed OHKO even if Scrafty's health is at full. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): The one team that is not Scrafty's fight at all, and where Scrafty has basically no chances whatsoever of winning. Their Fighting STAB is too dangerous even for a bulky Pokémon, and it does not help that what Scrafty learns does not hit them for super effective damage. Keep out. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): Scrafty is tricky to lead with due to Grimsley's own, which has Sand-Attack; setting up might give Scrafty the short end of the stick if its moves keep missing, and Faint Attack is no solution to that problem, due to Grimsley's speciality type. Instead, Grimsley's Scrafty should be taken down with one Hi Jump Kick, preferably with accuracy boosters, as Hi Jump Kick missing would mean the end of Scrafty after Grimsley's own attacks with Brick Break. The rest is fairly non-threatening; Krookodile's Earthquake is somewhat powerful, but Scrafty's own Brick Break beats it and Hi Jump Kick is an OHKO if Intimidate is somehow negated; Bisharp stands no chance whatsoever. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): There would be better setup chances, if not for Reuniclus' Focus Blast and Sigilyph's Air Slash, both of which will hurt Scrafty very badly despite its bulk. They can both net scary 2HKOs, amounting to a guaranteed OHKO when critical. Reuniclus in particular is very dangerous, though Scrafty can stall out the Focus Blast PP with the help of a teammate and then be switched back in, in order to set up; alternatively, Scrafty can wait until Musharna or Gothitelle come out. For Sigilyph, one Crunch is often enough, but the super effectiveness of Air Slash and the flinch chance must be taken into account; they make Sigilyph a not so suitable opponent for Scrafty if better options are available. * Reshiram/Zekrom (N's Castle): Scrafty has the right cards to survive a hit from the legendaries, no matter what hit it is, and should be able to defeat them with enough healing in between. If Scrafty has a power-up Gem of some sort, such as the Fighting, Dragon or Rock (for Reshiram) / Ground (for Zekrom) Gem, consider using them, as they can help Scrafty net the 2HKO which would otherwise be impossible. Alternatively, Hi Jump Kick itself 3HKOs, or 2HKOs with the Fighting Gem, but the miss rate remains its biggest drawback. * N (N's Castle): Both Reshiram and Zekrom are powerful, though they have no way of boosting their own stats, so Scrafty could actually take them on; Hi Jump Kick or Dragon Claw will both work about as well, with Dragon Claw dealing a bit less damage, but being on the safer side without the recoil risk. Nevertheless, their signature moves are 2HKOs and Scrafty can 3HKO at best, meaning that the only way to win is heal stalling or a great amount of luck, as two very low damage rolls on Reshiram's or Zekrom's end could turn Fusion Bolt or Fusion Flare into 3HKOs. Carracosta will need at least two hits due to Sturdy, but is otherwise not too problematic and could even work well as setup material for Scrafty, getting a few Work Ups off before Carracosta goes down. Vanilluxe and Klinklang are easy to defeat with any Fighting STAB, but mind the recoil if Scrafty is using Hi Jump Kick; Zoroark is a guaranteed OHKO with the move, but only when unmasked, and before then there is the risk of it using Focus Blast and not missing, which can deal as much as 75% without critical hits to Scrafty. In addition, Hi Jump Kick is the only move that can OHKO both Zoroark and Vanilluxe; while there is a chance Zoroark may also be OHKOed by Brick Break, Vanilluxe will live one no matter what. As for Klinklang, it may or may not be OHKOed by Hi Jump Kick; the estimate requires calculations with Scrafty's actual stat. Brick Break will 2HKO for certain, but is not the best option due to Klinklang's deadly combo of Metal Sound and Hyper Beam. Stay away from Archeops' Acrobatics at all costs. * Ghetsis (N's Castle): If Scrafty can afford to heal often, Cofagrigus is perfect setup material; it will likely keep using Toxic, and Scrafty can just Work Up to its heart's content, laughing at the damage output of Shadow Ball in the process. Starting at +5 Attack, Scrafty is guaranteed to OHKO everything on Ghetsis' team with either Brick Break or Crunch, removing the need to resort to the dangerous Hi Jump Kick. Hydreigon can still kill Scrafty with a critical Focus Blast, but if that becomes an issue, Scrafty's setup can be supplemented by one or two X Speed, which will guarantee victory even against Ghetsis' ace. * Post-Game: Scrafty keeps the awesomeness up high even after the credits roll. It can defeat mostly anything within reason, easily earning the MVP spot of the team. Moves When caught at the earliest possible point in the game, which is the Route 4 desert, Scraggy starts with Sand-Attack, Faint Attack, Headbutt and Swagger. While Swagger is dicey to use, and Sand-Attack is unreliable at best, the other two moves are pretty good, and can get an even better upgrade as early as level 20, with Brick Break. After learning this move, Scraggy is set for a good few levels to come. Payback comes at 23, and Scraggy can take it over Faint Attack for even greater damage; after that, there is the underwhelming Chip Away at level 27, which should not be learned, and then the much better Hi Jump Kick at level 31, which is ridiculously overpowered. Keep in mind, though, that the 10% miss rate comes with a recoil that equals half of Scraggy's health, and is therefore dangerous to use when not at full health, and sometimes even then. If Scraggy has a Wide Lens and/or Zoom Lens, the risk is virtually nullified, providing that Scraggy is certain to move last in the second case. Ignore Scary Face at 34 and skip straight to Crunch at 38, shortly before the evolution into Scrafty. Nothing else is really worth learning: there is Facade at 45, Rock Climb at 51, and then both Focus Punch and Head Smash at 58 and 65 respectively, if Scrafty ever gets that far, but every single move out of these is outclassed by either Crunch or Hi Jump Kick, or both, sometimes even Brick Break. Via TM, Scrafty gets access to even better coverage: Dragon Claw is a great option against Dragon-types if Scrafty has no better alternative to fight them; both Smack Down and Rock Tomb can offer temporary Rock coverage until the Rock Slide and Stone Edge options open up, and among those two, the choice is up to personal taste. Poison Jab can offer a temporary coverage boost, though the Poison-type is not very good offensively, so Scrafty will likely want to replace that move not long after; likewise for Dig which, however, also has a better and more useful typing. Setting up is useful for Scrafty, as its defenses can support several turns of it, with healing in between; Bulk Up is the best available option, though it is only for the postgame. In its absence, Work Up will provide it an alternative. Recommended moveset: Work Up, Crunch, Brick Break / Hi Jump Kick, Dragon Claw / Rock Slide Recommended Teammates * Psychic-types: The best Fighting coverage Scrafty can profit of on the team is given by Psychic-types. Unlike Flying-types, most Psychic-types do have a Fighting resistance, often nullified by the Flying-types' secondary typing; Psychic is also largely a special type, and Fighting-types tend to suffer special hits more than physical ones. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Musharna, Sigilyph, Gothitelle, Reuniclus, Beheeyem * Electric-types: Flying-types are poorly covered by Rock or Ice Pokémon, because both of these types share a Fighting weakness with Scrafty. It is always preferable to not have any overlapping weaknesses on a team, so an Electric-type should be designated to counter them. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Zebstrika, Galvantula, Eelektross, Stunfisk * Fast hitters: Scrafty does not get access to Dragon Dance in nuzlockes, meaning it is highly unlikely to ever hit first. Against Pokémon such as Archeops, it may be crucial to make the first move, so a dedicated fast hitter should always be present on nuzlocke teams. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Zebstrika, Scolipede, Archeops, Galvantula, Durant Other Scraggy's stats Scrafty's stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant is great, but so are Impish and Careful. If running an Attack-boosting set, Jolly can also work. Any other nature will be bad for Scrafty to varying degrees, but its base stats are still awesome, so it will be workable regardless. * Which Ability do I want? Moxie. Shed Skin does not really do anything great, and is not useful at all unless the nuzlocke rules impose limits on healing items or ban them altogether. Scrafty can do well even with Shed Skin in regular nuzlockes, but Moxie Scrafty is much better. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? As soon as possible, of course, especially given how late Scraggy's evolution comes. If Scrafty has not evolved yet, keep the Eviolite on it at all times; Scraggy is workable with its okay Attack stat, but will not be easy to keep alive later on in the game. Evolving not long after Skyla, or right before Brycen at the latest, would be ideal. * How good is the Scraggy line in a Nuzlocke? Incredibly. The absence of Fairy-types in this generation heightens its bulk to unexpected degrees, paired with the uncommonness of Flying- and Fighting-types in Unova, or at least threatening ones. Scrafty is one of the best Pokémon available in these games and will more than likely never disappoint anyone who gives the line a chance. * Weaknesses: Fighting, Flying * Resistances: Rock, Ghost, Dark (x0.25) * Immunities: Psychic * Neutralities: Normal, Poison, Ground, Bug, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Black/White Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses